They say everything has a turning point...or as famously quoted by Leonard Nimoy as Spock in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country "History is replete with turning points".
So the same with Battlestar Galactica.
In the time that I've been active in the BSG Universe, I have happened upon many, MANY turning points and watershed moments.
Some private and some public.
Through all the permutations of Battlestar Galactica...past...and present...and future...a common thread runs through it all and it's pretty obvious.
The fans.
Specifically all of you reading this article right now.
You are the glue....the dark matter...the force....that binds this universe together.
Couple of other things I'd like to point out to you constant viewer, and that is the vast melange of BSG that is available (or soon to be).
We have the classic Battlestar Galactica...we have Galactica: 1980...we have Richard Hatch's take on this from that was expressed visually in Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming...and actually explored in print in his series of books.
We have the re-imagined series, we have Caprica (which is part of that particular universe) and then the pending Blood & Chrome...again a part of that reality.
Now we are about to go in a different direction entirely with the Bryan Singer version of events with the film.
Confusing?
To a point....Battlestar has been a very, very unusual franchise in the fact that all the incarnations have taken a very divergent course.
All the better I say.
This is the expression of people of great creativity and talent who have taken this concept to the edge and then over that edge.
Having said that...and this is a very interesting point...it is interesting to note that we have people that ONLY like the classic show....we have people that ONLY like the re-imagined show...some that like both...some that like Galactica: 1980 too...or are really big fans of Caprica, but from the inception of the rebooted version there have always seemed to be two very defined camps.
I have said this before and I WILL say it again...you might as well be comparing apples & oranges...these are two different shows, end of story.
I'm also willing to bet that there are people, LOTS of people that haven't given the other a good viewing, they just assume they aren't going to like the other version and then don't every try.
Please give the other part (or parts) of the BSG universe a try....it's obvious that we all have common ground here...again, BSG.
You all have the power to perpetuate this idea of Battlestar Galactica for decades to come...in many, many forms...the ones that have been will not lose a shred of validity in the process.
It's all good.
We all can and should work towards a common goal...and that is in the title of this article...Unity.
You know what?
You don't even have to LIKE the other shows...(I hope that you find that you do)....but at the very least respect those with different takes and pull together for the commonality that is Battlestar Galactica itself.
I was one of those who pooh-poohed the idea of the of the reboot....but then changed my mind after seeing it.
I was frakkin' blown' away with the the brilliance of the work.
I love it all.
Richard Hatch realized this same thing early on & here you have someone who labored very hard on his own take on this and he saw the great potential and then turned around and expanded that universe with an incredible character in Tom Zarek.
And that is on top of his characterization of Apollo from TOS.
Ron Moore got up in front of a largely negative audience at the first Galacticon and turned them around to at the very least to be accepting of the concept...and I'm sure a lot of those folks were totally blown away when they got to view the new series.
Another thing for all of you to think about as I close out this particular portion of the article is that there is and has been for a while a very conscious effort underway to help bring the fans...and BSG sites...together...the Battlestar Galactica Fan Club site and BattlestarGalactica.com are active partners in the effort to promote unity across the board along with our partners in the Colonial Alliance.
Without any sense of false pride I can say that we have come a very long way over the past year and half...as a matter of fact we have come a tremendous way towards realizing a level plateau for everyone to play upon.
I would also say that everyone should really give it up to Richard Hatch who has always promoted...you guessed it: Unity...and he has always been a tireless champion of BSG.
Everyone, be active....take a stand...push the envelope of creativity and let your voices be heard, express yourselves and be a part of the universe of BSG...you can make a difference!
